


Cold Fusion

by Hawkscape



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Arguing, Crime Fighting, Fusion, Heart Attacks, Injury, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mental Anguish, Pain, Protectiveness, Serious Injuries, Sharing a Body, Villains, firestorm matrix, fusion is just a cheep tactic to make weak metahumans stronger, its only shippy if you squint, more pre-pairing actually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-04 10:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5331665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkscape/pseuds/Hawkscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry and Leonard get into an unforeseen problem as Barry learns it is unwise to bug ornery scientists while they're tinkering with potentially dangerous devices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The beginning of the whole predicament started when Leonard was working on tuning up the Firestorm matrix fuser. After a long while of being an uneasy companion of Team Flash, Cisco had finally reluctantly allowed him to attempt to maintenance the device so the senior member could work on other things. He had the puck shaped device spread out in several parts in front of him as he was tinkering with the biggest part with a small screwdriver. He was working fine before Barry Allen, otherwise known as the Flash, sauntered in while sucking noisily on a Big Belly Burger drink. There was a reason that Leonard insisted in setting up his work space as far away from the main rooms as he could, he did not like distractions. He decided to ignore the speedster and hope he went away. Leonard did not dislike the flash and had long since worked out there hero/villain rivalry, but that didn't mean he was chummy with him either. Len wasn't very friendly with anyone for that matter. This cold shoulder didn't seem to deter Barry however, as he sauntered over to quite obtrusively lean over Lenard's shoulder to look at what he was doing. The sound of scratching styrofoam and air being drawn through a straw is what finally caused the former super villain to set his screw driver down perhaps a little to hard and turn to face the speedster.  


“Do you need something Barry?” The superhero looks slightly sheepish at being suddenly addressed.  


“Uh, no, I just wanted to see what you were working on.” Leonard raised his eyebrow prompting Berry to explain further. The speedster shuffled his feet slightly before continuing. “Well, there aren't any metahumans currently on the loose, I finished up all the lab reports I need to for now, and after I asked Cisco and Kate what I could do, they suggested I come and see if I could help you.” He finished with a smile that if Lenard was prone to poetics, he would say would light up a room.  


Leonard turned back around to his work bench and reached for his tweezers to try and reconnect some frayed wires in the powerful puck before he spoke. “As touching as it is that the rest of your little band has shoved your boredom onto me, I'm afraid I don't have any work for you.”  


It seemed that the scarlet speedster was not to be dissuaded so easily and he stood obstinately next to Lenard's desk and leaned closer once more, blocking a large amount of the tinkerer's light. “Come on, just because I don't have as many PHD's as you guys doesn't mean I'm an idiot.”  


Leonard sensed that this would not end easily. “This is a very delicate and complicated piece of machinery Berry.” Barry set down his drink on the edge of the desk and pulled the mounted magnifier glass closer to examine it more.  


The Flash crossed his arms and let out a small huff. “I was there when Cisco first built it, I think I get the gist of how it works.” Leonard picked up a soldering iron while trying to ignore Barry literally breathing down his neck.  


“Specifics are kind of important here Barry. Specifics are what keep your friend;s atoms from flying into oblivion.” Leonard re-positioned the magnifier, as he was about to get to work.  
Barry suddenly pointed at two of the wires Lenard was about to solder on. “I think I remember those wires looking different when Cisco first built it.”  


This made Leonard start for a moment as he re-examined the wires in the open device looking for any obvious problems. It all looked in order. “What are you talking about? The wires are fine.”  


Berry reached his hand at the device to point at two wires that crossed over each other. “No, no, I remember, these wires were connected HERE and this one was connected to THIS.” He said pointing decisively at a transistor at the edge of the device.  


Leonard took another look at the device and slightly suspected Barry was making this up. “What are you talking about? If that wire went THERE then the device wouldn't even turn on.”  


Barry went to grab the device with one hand while pointing at the wires emphatically. “No I'm sure! Are you holding it upside-own?” The Scarlet Speedster tried to forcefully turn the device to prove his hypothesis.  


Leonard tightened his grip on the puck and attempted to get it back from Barry as there voices began to get louder. “No! I'm not holding it upside-down. Let go, its going to break.” Leonard was trying to be as forceful, but as careful as possible.  


The superhero tried to point at where the wire in question connected to the inner workings of the device. “I'm just trying to show you something! Look these wires connecting are different colors. There not supposed to be.”  


Leonard stood up from his chair, attempting to end this little tug-of-war as it was getting ridiculous. “You don't know that! Just cause there different colors doesn't mean that...”  


At that moment Barry gave a rather forceful pull causing Leonard to stumble forward and knock over the drink the speedster had set on the desk causing the unidentified sticky liquid to spill over the desk, some of the parts, and onto the two squabblers. This combination of events caused the colder of the two to have his hand slip onto the button on the back side of the device, turning it on. It began to spark slightly as Leonard began to loose his balance on the now slick floor. Barry reached out with super speed to steady the former villain, letting out some speed force sparks of his own. “Whoa...you ok-...?” He was cut off by the large bright light overtaking both of them that emanated from the device. There was no more room for shocked exclamations as a bright flash and a loud crack of lighting shook the room. This caused the power to flicker in the building and Cisco and Kate to look up from there work in confusion.


	2. Chapter 2

Barry and Leonard awoke in a daze shortly after the incident. The first thing they noticed was that they were all sticky. Most likely due to the spilled soda. They then remembered what had happened. “Barry?” Wait, no. “Leonard?” Something was wrong. They got up from the floor and looked around. There were papers scattered all around as well as parts of the Matrix Fusion Device. Something about that rattled in their head. 'The fusion device...THE FUSION DEVICE!' A realization crashed through their minds.  


“Barry? Leonard?” They frantically patted there body. Their shirt was to tight and their pants were to big. 'Minor but not that big of a problem' They thought, trying to keep their cool. They reached up and felt their face. “Mirror, mirror, mirror, need a mirror.” They mumbled under their breath before beginning to frantically search through various drawers throwing their contents haphazardly around before finding a small hand mirror and holding it up to their face. They almost drop it in shock. “Ah! That's not my face. That's not your face. Well, those are my eyes. I have distinctive eyes. No you don't. Gah!” They slammed down the mirror and it surprisingly didn't break as they grab there hair and begin to pace. “This is all your fault!” They yelled to no one. “My fault? If you would let me help you then this wouldn't have happened! You weren't helping anything!” They stumble a few steps and gathered up pieces of the fusion device before setting them on the table. “How is this even possible? The device doesn't just cause any two random things to fuse, it's just an instigator for the Firestorm Matrix to do what it naturally wants to.” They paced around frantically some more. “We need to tell Cisco and Caitlin about this. They can help.” With that decided they begin to run to the main room, but they soon went super speed and smacked into a wall, stumbling backwards. “Ow! Jesus Barry! That wasn't my fault! Oh yeah, because I'm the one with the super speed.” They ran the rest of the way haphazardly to the main room before stumbling in and tripping over their own feet, skidding into the middle of the room. 'Nice dynamic entrance.' They thought spitefully to themselves.  


Cisco immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over to there form. “Whoa, what's wrong Ba...rry?” Cisco trailed off as the fusion of the two supers stood up and their face was seen clearly. “Who...what?” The fusion held up there hand as Caitlin came over with an equally perplexed and slightly horrified expression.  


“We had an accident with the Firestorm Fusion Matrix device.” Cisco walked around them poking at there new form haphazardly.  


“So you...Barry and Snart? That's not possible.”  


The fusion slapped away Cisco's hand. “Yeah, well, here I am. Here we are. This is confusing.”  


Caitlin went to her computer where she pulled up Firestorm's file. She scanned the file to confirm her suspicion and began to speak. “That doesn't make any sense. Even Firestorm isn't an amalgamation of both parties, not really. It's the body of one and the minds of both, separated.”  


Cisco was still walking around the new fusion and seemed to be thinking deeply. He suddenly snapped his fingers abruptly. “I got it!” Everyone turned to the tech wizard expectant for his solution to the problem. “Ben!”  


There were a few beats of silence before the fusion tilted there head slightly in annoyance. “What?”  


Cisco nodded his head emphatically. “That's your name. Barry. Len. Ben. See it's perfect.”  


The newly christened Ben began to laugh before abruptly stopping. “No that's stupid.”  


Cisco shrugged. “Okay two face, its either that or Lenny.”  
Ben groaned before putting his head in his hands. “Ugh. Lisa used to call me that. It was horrible.” Ben's head snapped up. “Lisa!” He ran over and grabbed Cisco by the shoulders. “You CANNOT tell her about this.”  


Cisco raised his hands in defense. “Chill dude, mums the word.” Caitlin came up from behind Ben and grabbed their arm softly, shocking them into releasing Cisco.  


“I know this must be really scary, but before we can work on getting you two separated, you need to calm down. Let's go get you some food and maybe some clothes that fit.”  


Ben's shoulder visible relax. “Thanks Kate. Lin. Caitlin.”  


Caitlin pulled away her arm and pulled her fingers together and apart several times. “Why...are you sticky?”  


Ben got an angry look on his face. “Well, SOMEBODY decided to spill Big Belly beverage all over me, us, my workstation, and the Matrix Fusion device.”  


Cisco squawked indignantly while grabbing his hair. “YOU SPILLED POP ON MY DEVICE? AH! WHERE IS IT?”  


Ben clenches his eyebrows in frustration on his new face. “It wasn't my fault. You spilled the drink. No, I didn't you pushed me into it. 'Cause you wouldn't let go of the device. Even a teenager in science class knows not to bring food into a lab Barry!”  


Caitlin tried to defuse the situation. “Oooookay now, this is not helping anyone relax.”  


Cisco took off running down the hall towards Snart's lab. “STAY OUT OF MY LAB RAMON! DON'T! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!” Ben smacks himself in the face before being gently led down the hall towards the supply room where they kept extra S.T.A.R lab sweatshirts.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben was sitting on the well used examination table while Caitlin flitted around them with calm precision checking readouts and monitors. She hummed a small tune as if she had forgotten the amalgamation was there. She tapped out a few things on a tablet before turning around sharply and standing in front of them. “How do you feel?” 

They blinked and frowned. “Duel.” 

Caitlin hummed and adjusted a few of the monitors on there chest. “You seem to have the same speed force as Barry which is surprising because it should have been diluted given that you now have twice the mass.” She rubbed her hand over her lips in contemplation. “I want to try something. Put your left arm out to the side.” They did. “Okay, now at the same time, Snart try and put it back down by your side and Barry you try and keep it up.” Ben nodded and had visible difficulty as both parties fought for control. The arm would shake down slightly before shooting back up to side. It seemed to be putting them through a lot of strain. Caitlin noticed the heart monitor increasing rapidly. “You can stop now.” The hero let out a sigh as the arm dropped limply and tried to quell their sudden dizziness. “What did that feel like, specifically?” 

They rolled their shoulder. “Like two people trying to drive one car.” 

Caitlin adjusted her stance to maker her hip jut out slightly. “Can you be any more specific?” 

Ben slammed their hands down on the table. “No! Everything's conf - essed up.” They took a deep breath and started speaking slowly, taking great pain to make sure their words didn't get mixed. “It. Feels. Like…” They let out a hard breath through their nose. “Bad.” 

Caitlin realized she wasn't going to get anything out of trying to press them any more. “I think that’s all we can do until Jax and Professor Stein get here.” She started to take the monitors off of them and they tried to help, but tore some wires after inadvertently doing it at super speed. 

They threw the wires on the table. “Just let me handle the super speed. I’m not doing it on purpose, you need to control it better.” The fusion seemed to have a permanent grimace on their face. Caitlin wished she could help but she wasn't even entirely sure how it happened in the first place. The doors opened to hopefully reveal the answer to that question as Cisco walked in. He was holding two pieces of round machinery gingerly. 

“Well, in addition to the huge mess you guys made in there you also managed to somehow fry a machine that's main purpose is to sit on the chest of a guy made of fire. Congratulations.” He sat down at his workbench and started to try and get the pieces of the machine unstuck from one another with a screwdriver. Caitlin walked to her computer to analyze the data she had recorded more thoroughly and Ben made his way to loom over Cisco. They peered over his shoulder and blocking the light. “You mind?” Cisco turned to look at them. 

They shrugged. “Not at all, keep going.” 

Cisco scrunched his eyebrows together. “Since you're going to be like that, why don't you run me through a play by play of how exactly this happened. You gave us the summary before, but you were talking really fast and I pretty much blocked everything out after you said you spilled soda on it.” 

Ben sighed and prepared for the amalgamation of thoughts they were going to have to try and make into coherent sentences. “I…” They shook their head. “Snart was working on the device and…” They caught themselves that time. “Barry walked in to bug - see what he was doing and try to help - make a mess of things. They...we wrestled over the device and the drink got on it and Snart almost slipped so Barry went to catch him and…” They did the closest thing to a smile they had done since the transformation and gestured to themselves. “Ta-da.” 

Cisco shook his head and pried a circular diode loose from the center of the device with a disconcerting ping of metal. “Knew I shouldn't have let either of you near my tech.” 

Ben hunched over them menacingly. “Bite me, Crisco.” 

The techie wagged his finger. “That's wasn't very Barry Allen of you.” 

Ben growled and stamped his foot in frustration. “When is Firestorm supposed to get here?” 

Cisco didn't pay attention to what they were saying and pulled a magnifying glass over the device with a thoughtful hum. “You said you guys only fused after Barry used the speed force?” 

They relaxed their stance but crossed their arms. “Yeah, I told you. I was falling, I caught him.” They didn't bother to correct themselves as they turned to the entrench to the always leading out of the room. “He can fly, it shouldn't take him that long to get here.” 

The techie leaned back and nodded. “Ah, I get what happened. The device used the speed force instead of the firestorm matrix to fuse you two. Pretty obvious really.” He shrugged. “Should be able to unfuse you using the same principle. I need to build a new device though.” 

Ben leaned over to pick up one of the pieces, but his hand was slapped away. “How long is that gonna take?” 

Cisco tried to slot two pieces back together and a piece proceeded to crumble off and leave flakes of blackened metal on the desk. “...a bit, but it should take less time once Stein gets here.” 

They put their hands in their hair as a more open look in their eyes signaled Barry taking the majority of control. “What am I supposed to do until then? I can't go out like this.” Their freak out was sharply cut off by Snart as they put their hands down by their sides smoothly. “It’s fine. Let’s just focus on not ripping apart at the seams.” They started tapping their foot uneasily and looking for something to do. 

Caitlin stood up from her desk. “I might be able to help with that.” They looked over at her and she had taken off her lab coat at some point. “I took some meditation classes recently and I think centering yourself might be the best thing for you right now.” 

They sneered. “That stuff doesn't work.” They looked back and forth at apparently nothing for a few moments before their face softened. “Sure.” 

They followed her to the workout room near the back of the S.T.A.R. labs building and she grabbed two desk chairs before rolling them inside. She sat down in one and Ben sat in the other, facing her. “Now, close your eyes and try to relax.” They closed their eyes but kept their arms crossed, as it seemed to be their default stance. “Empty your mind and don't think of anything.” 

Their eyes popped open. “What? You can't not think of anything, that's called being brain dead.” 

Caitlin smiled like she was talking to a child. “If you have to think about anything, think about something calming like a waterfall.” 

They closed their eyes reluctantly. “Waterfalls haven't been calming since I tried to jump over one.” 

She relaxed her shoulders and held out her hand as if as a peace offering. “Then let me guide you through it. Just focus on envisioning what I'm saying in your mind.” Ben put their arms on their knees to mirror Caitlin and reluctantly fell silent. “Think of a beach. The sand is clean and warm and the water is cool and soothing.” Their face reluctantly started to smooth out. “The water sparkles with sunlight like diamonds twinkling. The sky is blue and filled with puffy clouds that lazily float across it.” Caitlin's voice was soothing but confident. Surprisingly different from her usually semi-frantic tone. All the frustration fell away from Ben's face as they focused on the beach scene. 

She was about to continue when an alarm sounded throughout the building a jolted both of them out of their peaceful state. “Ben don-” They had already speed out of the gym and into the main control room. 

Cisco was scanning the city map and didn't look up. “Good job, you didn't even face-plant this time.” 

They didn't have time for banter. “What's going - happening - on?” 

The long haired man threw a security camera feed on the large screen. “Looks like a new meta causing havoc downtown. He seems to have basic telekinesis...and a striking lack of fashion sense.” 

Caitlin ran in at that moment, out of breath, not able to keep up with Ben. “You are not going out to fight them.” 

Ben was already zooming around trying to to grab two different costumes. “Cait - Snow - len, I have to. Someone could get hurt.” 

Cisco started getting on his Vibe gloves and goggles. “You could get hurt, dude.” 

Caitlin started putting on her Killer Frost mask. “Not to mention we don't fully know how your body handles Barry's powers yet.” 

Ben didn't reply but continued to try and get the Flash suit on despite it not fitting over their chest. They conceded to tie the top around their waist and grabbed Captain Cold's jacket and gun. He stopped suddenly and jerked like he wanted to keep walking but couldn't. “You're right I shouldn't but. I. Have. To.” They struggled to get the words out as they jerkily settled the goggles on his head. 

Caitlin put her hand on his arm softly. “Ben, please. Me and Cisco can handle this.” Their inner struggle was evident on their face as they looked between the concerned faces of their friends and the havoc erupting on screen. A sudden shriek from someone on the monitor distracted the two of them enough for Ben to make their decision and race out the door, clipping the frame. The voices yelling at him to stop couldn't travel fast enough to reach him.


	4. Chapter 4

After some disagreements about directions they skidded sideways near the intersection where the Meta was wreaking havoc. Their coat was smoking slightly and they patted it out frantically while swearing under their breath. The meta was throwing cars at buildings. Ben was lining up to take a shot at his back when they saw a man directly in the path of one of the cars being tossed around. They holstered their gun and ran towards the man, speeding him to safety a ways away before turning back to the villain. 

He had noticed them due to their heroic stunt so the element of surprise was gone. He was floating in mid air apparently by his own power and gestured at them dramatically. He had an eye-patch and a suit. So that's what Cisco meant by 'fashion sense'. It was one of THOSE super villains. “There you are Flash! I was wondering when you...are not the Flash.” All the cars he had been holding up around him fell to the ground with earth shaking crashes, throwing glass everywhere. He leaned forward and squinted from his vantage point, floating slightly closer. 

Ben raised his gun with super speed. “Come any closer and you freeze.” 

The villain stopped with his hands raised. “Freeze ray and super speed? Isn't that a bit excessive?” 

They fidgeted in their shooting stance. “It's not a freeze ray it's a cold gun.” 

Their adversary hummed. “Ah, okay, cool, cool.” He quickly flicked his wrist and the cold gun flew out of Ben's hand. As they went to speed after it a car was thrown at them and it hit them before they could think to doge. It hit them squarely and threw them to the ground. “Seems like you're a bit of a low quality knock off.” Ben's head was still spinning but it seemed like they thankfully still had fast healing, or else they would be dead. “Oh well, guess everyone has to start somewhere. Unfortunately this is also where you end.” He lifted up another car to crush them. “Oh, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself.” The car stilled and Ben had cleared their mind enough to try and plan their next action. This guy's monologueing could buy them some time. If they could run so fast the guy couldn't see them, he couldn't stop them. A plan clicked into place. “My name is Momento.” He raised the car up higher and Ben did his best to cower appropriately. “Now, what should they put on your obituary?” 

Ben coiled like a spring. “Cold Snap.” They began running even before the car started to fall. Momento let out an indignant roar as he threw the car wildly after them, but they were running too fast. They began to circle the villain as he turned wildly trying to spot them. They made a detour to pick up the cold gun which they hoped hadn't been damaged and began shooting the villain while running around them. The combination of the vortex created and the ice weighing them down caused them to crash into the asphalt and struggle to get up. The guys composure seemed to dissolve quickly as he tried to push against anything he could with his telekinesis. He made a crater around him in his anger but it didn't help. He finally seemed to be unable to move under a layer of ice. 

They thought the fight have been won. They weren't prepared when he suddenly let out a roar and a wall of force seemed to emanate out from him, throwing them backwards into a wall. They hit it with a deep thud and slumped down, gun falling from their grip. Momento seemed to struggle for a moment longer before freeing one of his hands and motioning with it violently to pick up the hero's limp form and piston him up and down into the ground a few more times for good measure. 

They were lifted up into the air one last time as their head reeled. Their vision tunneled and focused on the villain continuing to slowly break free from his ice prison. “Cold snap, huh? How about I snap your neck!” Even in their delirious state they realized the gravity of the situation. They could feel the waves of anger directed towards them confirming that he was about to make true on his promise. They felt a force curl around their neck as they involuntarily flinched at the pain about to come. Their only straight thought was to themselves: “I’m sorry.” They didn't know what half of them said it. 

A sudden flash of light and a release of pressure from around their throat brought their attention back to reality. They rag-dolled hard on the ground, thankful to still be alive to feel pain. They struggled onto their knees to see that the villain had been tackled to the ground by a ball of flame and was currently being restrained by the very same entity: Firestorm. They pinned the villain easily to the ground with his hands behind his back. There savior turned to look at them. “You okay?” They raised a thumbs up just as Cisco and Caitlin were arriving in the car. Ben knew they were about to get yelled into oblivion but they was just thankful they were alive. 

Despite being covered in frost, Caitlin's eyes were like fire boring into their souls. On second thought, maybe they were going to die. “Barry. Leonard.” Oh no, first names. “That was the most…” She breathed out her nose harshly and it seemed like she was breathing steam. “Are you hurt? Because I want to know before I kill you both.” 

They got up quickly, ignoring the probably broken bones they had. They would heal faster then Caitlin's temper. They put their hands in front of them and walked towards her slowly. “I’m fine, everything went fine, I didn't explode, no one got hurt, it's fine.” They took in a sharp gasp of breath before stumbling slightly. Their heart felt like it was being stabbed. 

“What is it?” Caitlin immediately dropped her anger and rushed over to them but they knew she was simply saving it for later. 

They straightened up and tried to play it off. “It’s nothing. I have a few bruises, nothing maj-” They were cut off by another sharp pain in their heart. They stumbled slightly and clutched their chest. “Never mind, I think I’m having a heart attack.” They said this last sentence in a rushed breath while falling down to one knee and struggling to stay upright. Caitlin might have been asking them questions but it felt like she was talking from miles away. Their vision began to tunnel again and the last thing they felt before passing out was falling sideways. Their last thought was whether they would get two tombstones or just one.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to drop me a line!  
> http://hawkscape.tumblr.com/  
> https://www.youtube.com/c/HawkScape  
> http://hawkscape.deviantart.com/


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